


XANA's Sharingan : The Xanafied Fan, the Remix

by Georgie_Enkoom



Series: XANA's Sharingan [1]
Category: Code Lyoko, Code Lyoko Evolution, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Mind Rape, Protective Haruno Sakura, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Trauma, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Georgie_Enkoom/pseuds/Georgie_Enkoom
Summary: Successfully escaping the Cortex after the events of Code Lyoko : Evolution, X.A.N.A. succeeded at a price : it was now unable to come back to it's original world. Taking over Sasuke's Cursed Seal, X.A.N.A.'s desires for control will creates a new era : one where misery and death are the nicest thing that can happen to you.
Series: XANA's Sharingan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054184
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue : Inhumanity personified

**Author's Note:**

> You may know me as Salibask on FF.Net. Thus, allow me to introduce to AO3 this fanfic : The Xanafied Fan. 
> 
> What it's all about? Simple. X.A.N.A. from Code Lyoko flees to the Naruto world after losing one last time in a canon-divergent Code Lyoko Evolution universe. There, it hijacks Sasuke's cursed seal and from there, decides that if he couldn't take over his homeworld, this one should work just fine!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Naruto world is introduced to a weakened but no less murderous AI out for world domination.

Death was among us.

It's once black eyes scanned the area, killing intent invading the area. Electricity surrounded his flickering body as he looked at the changes the strange mark brought to his body. What he didn't notice were the looks filled with fear. Friends and enemies alike looked at him like he was some sort of danger, an alien hell-bent on killing everyone here in the worst way possible.

« **These changes were… Unexpected**. » he remarked in a confused, calm, strangely polite, yet distorted tone. Said tone only scared his friends more : Sasuke Uchiha was known for a lot of things. Polite wasn't one of these. What was even more unsettling wasn't the polite tone, but the murderous intent behind it.

If death was a company, Sasuke just became it's secretary, constantly making sure clients get their proper appointments, so to speak. 

« **It seems that you're our host's enemies**. » Sasuke's eyes were fixated on his three terrified enemies. « **We could use some warm-up**. »

And then, he vanished.

One of his foes, named Dosu Kinuta, never saw it coming. The mummified Oto genin couldn't do anything when Sasuke appeared in front of him, and grabbed his face. What followed, however, left a permanent mark on Sasuke's comrades.

Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Neji Hyuuga could only watch in horror as Dosu's body suddenly started spasming. The Hyuuga wished for the first time in his life that he did not have the Byakugan. After all, it allowed him to see through the physical obstructions that shielded the others from the worst of it : he saw electricity slowly destroyed the mummy's body. Ventricular fibrillation, burning tissues, brain fried to bits, fourth-degree burns... It wasn't simply killing. It was needlessly brutal.

As Dosu's corpse was burning, Sasuke dropped his victim and turned towards the last two Oto ninjas. Strangely, the only girl of the group, Kin Tsuchi, had lost consciousness. Not that Sasuke cared. She was going to die alongside her friends whether she was awake or not. This left only one standing enemy, one Zaku Abumi. The spiky-haired, dark-eyed Oto ninja, surprisingly wasn't fazed.

« Heh. You think you're tough because you took him by surprise ? » snorted Zaku, with no care whatsoever for Dosu's death. Lord Orochimaru was so much worse in that regard. 

Sasuke remained slowly walked towards Zaku, a murderous smirk distorting his otherwise handsome face. « **Tell us when you're going to do something useful instead of whining**. »

If Sasuke wanted to piss off Zaku, to say he succeeded easily was an understatement.

« That's it ! Extreme Decapitating Airwaves ! » Sasuke merely watched as Zaku pointed his palms towards him, before Zaku emitted a high-pressured mixture of sound waves and airwaves from the holes in the palms of his hands towards Sasuke, who… Stood still, for unclear reasons. His body, in contact with the soundwaves, started to distort, flicker and spasming before collapsing. Zaku then didn't wast time after his attack. Dashing towards the downed Sasuke, he stabbed him four times : head, heart and kidneys.

« Not so tough now are we ? » Zaku whispered. He was exhausted, lost most of his chakra, but at least the mission was done… Wait a minute. Something was wrong.

Sasuke wasn't bleeding for some reason. He was still flickering and all.

« OK. That's wrong. » Zaku looked at his pouch. Explosive kunai. If stabbing wasn't enough, then this one could be usef-

« **I'll give you that. That attack was impressive.** » Zaku didn't expect Sasuke to wake up so soon, let alone grabbing him by the neck. Sasuke then snatched the explosives from Zaku's pouch.

« My turn. » Activating the explosives, Sasuke stuck them on the unsuspecting Oto ninja's face. He then threw Zaku towards a tree, head first.  
Perhaps, in a cartoon, it would have been comedic to see Abumi's face embedded in a tree. And Zaku's face did end up embedded in the tree.  
But in real life, it was not so comedic, and Zaku's skull had been damaged on impact, and the teenager instantly died thanks to the head trauma. The explosion blowing up both the tree and Abumi's head reduced to zero any chance of survival. 

Chuckling darkly, Sasuke looked at his handiwork. Nothing but ribs, chunks of wood and blood surrounded Zaku's headless body. His eyes turned towards Tsuchi. The one girl of the group opened her eyes, understandably horrified when she saw Sasuke walking towards him, as his right hand was full of electricity, ready to strike. The only reason she wasn't fried alive is because that pink-haired girl she had previously made fun of hugged Sasuke from behind.

« Sasuke… please. Stop this. » Sakura's words triggered something inside of Sasuke, as the Uchiha suddenly suffered a headache and started screaming.

« **Aelita... Schaeffer?** » X.A.N.A. compared Sakura with an old enemy as Sasuke retook control of his body.

This world was fascinating. Humanity was stronger, it seemed. This world was open to new opportunities as well. Could be interesting. 

« … You really don't remember a thing ? » Sakura was puzzled. While she expected the Sasuke she knew to be horrified by the needless deaths he wrought, she didn't expect him to have suddenly forgotten.

« No. Not in the slightest. Last thing I remember, was when Orochimaru bit my neck. And then, nothing.

— You think it's due to the mark ?

— Perhaps... I don't know.

\- Do you think we should talk about it with Kakashi-sensei ?

— … Yeah. Just, no one else. Not even Naruto. » Sakura was puzzled. Naruto was their teammate, their friend. Why they shouldn't tell him a thing?

« We don't need that knucklehead to worry about me, now do we ? » A small smirk graced Sasuke's lips as he looked at their unconscious blond teammate.

Sakura smiled alongside him.

« Yeah, let's just make sure he becomes Hokage. » Sakura muttered, thinking about her teammate's boasts to try and forget the horror she witnessed. 

Naruto Uzumaki was a naive, idiotic loudmouth. Knowing him, he'd probably make a fuss anyway. But they loved him that way, something they'd never openly admit.  
Why telling when showing was enough?

Having parted ways with Sasuke's team and Shikamaru's team, Neji looked unexpectedly worried as he moved towards the tower alongside his team.

« Hey Neji, what's wrong ? » Asked Tenten.

« It's about Sasuke… Something is wrong with him. We should avoid his team at all costs.

\- The great Neji Hyuuga is afraid of a younger team ? What happened to you, huh ? » Tenten asked in a taunting tone. Neji worried ? That's a new one.

« Sasuke, somehow, used actual electricity.

— Is that really what you're worried about ? Everyone can use Lightning Style, and you have the affinity yourself. It's not that impressive.

— No. What I meant is that Sasuke can use actual electricity, not Lightning Style. »

Of all people, the ever-goofy Rock Lee looked now just as worried as his Hyuuga teammate.

« Ok, now that's wrong.

— Can anyone explain what's the big deal with electricity ? » Tenten looked exasperated, not understanding what her teammates were talking about.

« Gai-sensei taught me that Lightning Style was created because humanity couldn't properly control electricity. Chakra mixed by electricity allowed people to use it without much worry. As such, unlike other elemental styles, Lightning Style was originally created to subdue and not kill unless there's enough chakra or firepower put in the technique. Subdue and capture are things much harder to do with pure electricity. » Lee explained with an unnaturally straight expression on his usually hyperactive face.

« Pure electricity is much stronger than Lightning Style. While a powerful Lightning Style attack is certainly no slouch, pure electricity in itself is leagues deadlier. You can survive a Raikage's attack because you're strong enough, only to later die because you've been struck by lightning. » Neji added with dread.

« Ok. Now I understand… »

Tenten was just as worried as her teammates now : the Chunin Exams weren't going to be as easy as expected it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FF.Net Author's note : Yo ! As you noticed, I chose to rewrite The Xanafied Fan. I had ideas, but I felt like I couldn't implement them properly in the original version. The past, present and future ideas didn't work as well as I expected.
> 
> As for my other stories… I'll tell you later whether or not I'll continue them. If I don't, I'm going to put them to adoption, but also leave a plot explaining what would have happened if I continued them.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I have no excuse. But I'll try to continue this one, promise !
> 
> See ya !


	2. I : The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if William and Laura successfully defeated X.A.N.A. in episode 22 of Code Lyoko Evolution?
> 
> As such a scenario becomes more and more plausible, X.A.N.A. prepares its last escape plan, but there's a catch : it's a one-way trip.

One of a plan's many advantages is that it distracts. To be more accurate, anyone against the plan will, as expected, not only oppose it, but often actively try to foil it. However, by focusing on the plan they oppose, they'll be unaware of another plan behind it. It could be a contingency plan, or just another unrelated plan, that has much more chances to end up succeeding.

That's what X.A.N.A. did : behind it's attempt to recover its power from the Lyoko-warriors, X.A.N.A. was working on something else, something that no one saw coming :

A program that would allow X.A.N.A. to cross dimensions.

At first, X.A.N.A. didn't even consider that idea. Too ludicrous for its tastes, if the multi-agent program had any. However learning, testing the Cortex's ressources led to X.A.N.A. creating such a program. It had two utilities : X.A.N.A., once back at full power and after taking down its enemies, would expand its rule to dimensions, subjugating anything to its rule. But it was also a contingency plan, just in case the Lyoko-warriors won against it : X.A.N.A. would just escape to another dimension and prepare its comeback. It was as simple as that.

If the Lyoko-warriors' foes was a human with an ego, it would have congratulated itself for such a brilliant idea. It was the perfect gambit after all : X.A.N.A. would win, no matter what happens.

That said, X.A.N.A. didn't count on its former second-in-command William Dunbar and the new Lyoko-warrior Laura Gauthier proving to be a problem.

The Cortex always felt strange to William Dunbar. There was something unnerving about that Replika. The constant tremors, the parts of the area constantly moving, the traps made the whole thing so different from Lyoko. Using his trademark Super Smoke to easily avoid the traps, he ended up in the middle of the sector, not far from a giant ball with a small entry : the Cortex's Core.

« Laura, I've reached the Core.

– Okay, before dealing with XANA for good, we'll need to go to a tower. I'll recover all of Tyron's personal information, that way Aélita doesn't get mad at me for forgetting about her mother.

— Sure… But we'll have a tough time…»

The problem wasn't the Krabs William dodged just as easily as the traps when entering the Cortex.

The problem was William. Not William himself, but William nonetheless.

In fact, several Williams, swords drawn, the eye of X.A.N.A. in their eyes glaring at the real deal. They were making a circle around their original, completely cornering him.

«Gosh…» Laura whispered, while William gulped with dread. 

If you were looking at the Cortex from above, all you would see is nothing but a beautiful black flower with black petals.

It would have been certainly even better if it wasn't for the fact that said « petals » weren't Dunbar copies in SuperSmoke form lunging at the real William.

Tightening his grip around his trusted Zweïhander sword, William waited for the inevitable.

«… I don't know how to deal with myself yo… » whispered a worried Dunbar. The second his clones materialized close to him to strike him, he used the Super Smoke to dodge their blows, before returning to normal in the middle of the group of clones. The only way to defeat people just as strong and unstoppable as him was to exploit their numbers. When a clone swung his sword vertically, the former XANA-Warrior tilted his head, dodging the blow.

« Behind you ! » Laura warned. William properly used his Super Smoke, avoiding a sword beam fired behind him. Other clones, not expecting the attack, were not as lucky, and the beam cut through several of them. That said, more than half of them were still here. Things were only getting started.

« Keep dodging them. I've got an idea. » Gauthier stated. William dodged, jumping just in time to avoid a sword attack aiming his legs. Another clone fired yet another sword beam, prompting Dunbar to use his Super Smoke to dodge. This time, however, instead of hitting the clones in its paths, the beam suddenly vanished. Apparently, X.A.N.A. learned how to cancel attacks on the fly to limit the damage. Other clones, but not all of them, used their Super Smoke, before charging at William and hitting him, forcing him out of his smoke form and leaving him open to the rest of the Dunbar-lookalikes. William barely managed to block several attacks, but there were still way too many clones, forcing X.A.N.A.'s former lieutenant to stay on the defensive. However, William knew himself better than anyone and knew one thing as a result : if one of these Zweihanders managed to hit him once, he was done for.  
William used Super Smoke again, but instead of remaining on the ground, which would have left him open to the clones still in smoke form, he took to the skies.

« Fly as high as possible ! » Advised Laura. William followed her advice and would've nodded if he wasn't in smoke form, a far cry from his first mission on Lyoko.  
As he returned to human form, William looked at the Cortex's ground, realizing that he could see the whole sector from there.  
To the clones, William looked like some form of black star. To Dunbar, his bunch of X.A.N.A.-made twins looked like some sort of dust. The height difference was enormous. Not that the William clones truly cared, as they fired an army of sword beams at William. A couple other clones flew towards him and surrounded the beams, probably to prevent him from using the Super Smoke to dodge these beams. Fortunately, he didn't need to think much about his next move, as Laura did it for him. 

« Block ! » she yelled. Doing as told, William's eyes widened when he witnessed his sword absorbing all the beams he parried. « Fire ! », was the Gauthier girls next order, and the Dunbar boy obliged, firing an enormous sword beam at high speed. The following explosion looked like something made out of these old GameCube/Playstation 2 games, when explosions looked like giant orange orbs expanding. The clones in solid form didn't have the time to use Super Smoke, not expecting that attack, and were promptly obliterated. Less than a quarter of the clones remained, since they were the ones who followed William to the skies. It was still a good dozen of evil twins remaining. Using the clones' number against them wouldn't work anymore, and they were still too many of them to beat.

« You're still falling » Gauthier reminded. Right, William flew as « high as possible » in smoke form and returned to normal in the sky. He should've expected to fall eventually. Hence why he used his Super Smoke to return safely to the ground, pursued by his doppelgangers in the same firm. 

« Go towards the clones. » Laura told him. Still in smoke form, the former X.A.N.A.-Warrior did as told, hitting a clone and forcing both himself and said clone to return to normal.

« Don't. Say. A thing. » Gauthier hissed. Must have been her idea. William could only ponder silently what she was thinking, not noticing the clone looking at him in confusion. The rest of the clones, returning to normal, looked at both clones, just as confused as their « brother ». For a minute, no one moved, said a thing, or lost their neutral expression. Meanwhile, a Megatank appeared, rolling slowly, silently toward William and his « brothers ». Opening, it started to charge its trademark beam, more accurately, a vertical beam.

« Super Smoke ! » Laura yelled. William did just that, just in time to avoid the beam. His clones, however, were not as lucky, and were wiped out down to the last one. William returned to normal form, just in time to see his new opponent. A Megatank.

« Ignore him. Go to the Cortex's tower. » William obeyed Laura's orders. Using Super Smoke, he easily entered the tower, unaffected by the monster's beams. Inside the tower, William went to the second floor of the tower, before the tower's interface appeared before him.

« Just put your hand on the interface. I'll take care of the rest. » Gauthier told in a reassuring tone. William nodded, and did as told.

« Just wondering, but what how did you knew about that sword's absorbing energy technique. I didn't knew myself, Dunbar asked.

– Well, I had to prepare myself before doing this. I checked your avatar, and I saw that most of the powers X.A.N.A. supposedly gave you were saved in the supercomputer during your second virtualization. I saw that technique and I thought it could be useful.

– Oh. And why were the clones confused after that ?

– Remember the program Jérémie created to identify clones when X.A.N.A. used them in its attack ? Well, I used that program's source codes to create another program. I made you indistinguishable from the other clones. You had their appearance. Since the program I created allowed me to establish a connection with the clones, I made a connection between you and X.A.N.A. so that it wouldn't distinguish you from the clones by controlling them.

– You know X.A.N.A. could have taken over my body this way right ? asked William, who would be glaring at Laura if they weren't in two different worlds.

– It wouldn't. X.A.N.A. would have required a virus in your brain to control you, something it didn't need with the clones. By the way, I'm done, you can get out of the tower and go to the Cortex's core. » The girl finished. Once out of the tower, William used his Super Smoke and quickly reached the Core's closed gate.

« Oh. Yeah, forgot that. Without Aélita, how are we going to go past the Gate ?

– Try Super Smoke. If it doesn't work, I have a contingency plan. »

Before the Megatank could get another chance to wipe out William, the latter used his trademark technique to enter the gate and reach the Core's interface, immune to the monster's desperate attacks.

« Install the virus. Quick. Before Tyron notices us. » Despite her neutral tone, it was clear to William that Laura was full of glee. He couldn't blame her. He was just like her. He would finally settle the score with X.A.N.A. for good. God that was satisfying. William installed the virus and escaped just as quickly as he came.

Outside, the spectacle had already started. Parts of the ground were rotting and collapsing. The « clouds » in the sector were falling on the ground. The once yellow sky was turning red, and then black. The sector on itself was losing its colors. William ignored the Megatank again as he used his Super Smoke to reach the Skidbladnir before Tyron's virtual world was completely wiped out. Inside Jérémie's virtual ship, William took off to the digital sea.

« You know the rest of the team won't like what we did… William sounded worried now, even though he was more than satisfied to have finally killed X.A.N.A., with no pissed off Yumi to stop him from settling his score.

– Remember when I made you enter the Cortex's tower ?

– Of course.

– Well, I did so that I could access and copy all of Tyron and his men's personal information, hideouts and places so that we could eventually find Aélita's mother. Don't worry about that.

– … You're evil.

– I do my best, William, Gauthier boasted.

– Laura ? Do you know where is William ? I can't find him. » A familiar voice stated. Both Laura, and especially William knew this voice a bit too well.

« Yumi ? Oh, well… » Laura sheepishly replied to the tall Japanese girl behind her, who had a very questioning look on her face. 

« We're screwed, right ? » William stated the obvious to an obviously annoyed Laura.

That was not improving their chances.

X.A.N.A. almost wished it could curse. Under the possibility it would lose, it would have expected the whole team to take it down, especially Jérémie and Aélita. But the two newbies, of all people, defeated it ? X.A.N.A. couldn't accept that possibility. Heck, it wasn't even a possibility, it looked more like a fantasy. Jérémie fooled it, Aélita played it, and now it was that Gauthier girl's turn ? That's something X.A.N.A. couldn't imagine.

Fortunately it had a contingency plan in case it would be defeated. A program X.A.N.A. started to develop long once it escaped the supercomputer with Lyoko's keys. The program would allow it to cross dimensions, thus escaping this world and the Lyoko-warriors for the time being. Once powerful enough, X.A.N.A. would go back and finally take over the world.

Well. That what was originally planned. Unfortunately, X.A.N.A. was too slow. The connection the program established with his homeworld was lost. Likely Gauthier's virus upon destroying the Cortex. But it was something X.A.N.A. could worry about later. Survival came first.

Once the program did its job, X.A.N.A. ended up in a forest, with all of its previous power, but looking like a specter. In this form, X.A.N.A. wouldn't last very long, as specters were usually linked to towers which wasn't the case here. It needed a host, quickly. Scanning the area, X.A.N.A. noticed an unconscious boy. Said boy had short black hair, shaped like a duck. If X.A.N.A. had any fashion style and some sort of humanity, it would have vomited. The boy also had a short-sleeved blue shirt, brown pants and blue sandals. There was a strange power emanating from his body, or more accurately, his neck. It could be useful if harnessed properly. Entering the boy's body through his neck, X.A.N.A. barely paid attention to the unconscious blonde boy next to its target.

X.A.N.A was left confused by the following events. The multi-agent program was in a white place, having taken Jérémie Belpois's appearance for some reason. There was no surroundings to speak of. Except for the black-haired boy and what seemed to be a younger version of said boy. Both looked at it in confusion as X.A.N.A. analysed the two individuals.

« Who are you ? » The boy's older self asked.

X.A.N.A. extended its palm towards the younger individual.

« The power you gave the boy is useful. **Unlike you.** » A surge of electricity erupted from X.A.N.A.'s hands, destroying the kid. Its cries of pain, X.A.N.A. noted, were fittingly adult-like. X.A.N.A. knew, from the power the « kid » emanated, that it couldn't be the boy. Perhaps the person who gave him said power, likely for his own purposes. But X.A.N.A. had no need for said person. Could prove to be a problem later on. Better be safe than sorry.  
X.A.N.A. then turned towards the boy, and talked to him in a seemingly neutral tone, as its appearance became ghoulish, with pale skin, claws on his hands and completely white eyes. 

« To answer your question, you may refer to us as this world's future. **Whether or not it wishes to have such a future, however, is another story.** » 

The power from the boy's neck invaded the boy's entire body. The boy, or more accurately, X.A.N.A. possessing the boy, regained consciousness. As marks appeared all over the black-haired boy's body, the aforementioned body started to flicker. X.A.N.A.'s eye appeared in its new host's once black eyes.

« Sasuke ? » A girl asked. X.A.N.A. quickly scanned the girl. She had green eyes and pink hair, but the hair was much longer than Schaeffer's. She also had a pink qipao dress and blue sandals.

Her wounded, fearful state, fortunately, made it clear that she was no threat. The actual threat seemed to be the duo looking at him with much killing intent. Their shared characteristic was their headband : for some reason, it had a musical note on it. Judging by their clothes and their fighting stance, they were raised to kill. Interesting. This world was ruthless enough to raise children this way. X.A.N.A.'s original world would have protested the second it'd notice child soldiers.

« **These changes were… Unexpected.** » X.A.N.A remarked. Not that it cared a lot about it.

This world was ruthless ? Very well. X.A.N.A. was even more so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FF.Net Author's Note : Hi there. Kinda late since I really had no idea how to write the fight scene between William and his clones. I mean, it's easy to write a curb-stomp battle like what happened with X.A.N.A.-Sasuke versus Zaku, Dosu and Kin, but it's much harder to write a more classic battle. Hope you enjoyed that fight, that said.
> 
> Originally, the story was supposed to only happen in the Naruto world, with X.A.N.A. screwing everyone the same way it did in Code Lyoko. However, after much thinking, I decided to add a small scene in Code Lyoko's world.
> 
> Finally, in the Code Lyoko world, this moment is in truth Mutiny, the 22nd episode of Code Lyoko : Evolution. I really hated this episode, because I thought that with the OP Super Smoke, William and Laura had largely enough resources to defeat X.A.N.A.. So I imagined what would happen if they actually did defeat X.A.N.A.. But I didn't want it to be too easy for them, so that's where the William clone army entered the picture.
> 
> There are several references :
> 
> First, when William uses his sword to absorb the energy beams, it was a reference to the 80th Code Lyoko episode, Dog Day Afternoon. In this episode, X.A.N.A.-William absorbs Aélita's force field attack through his sword , and spreads it throughout his zweïhander. He then uses the absorbed energy to launch a pink energy wave at Aélita.
> 
> Second, Laura mentioning Jérémie's clone program is a reference to the 21th Code Lyoko : Evolution episode, False Pretenses. In this episode, X.A.N.A. launches an attack, sending the Lyoko-warriors a spectre disguised as them, constantly changing its appearance! Plus, not content with fighting unexpected spectres at the school, the team are confronted with false avatars of themselves on Lyoko. However, Jérémie creates a program identifying the clones, allowing the Lyoko-warriors to know who is who and to stop X.A.N.A.'s attack.
> 
> Third, Laura mentioning William's second virtualization is a reference to the 66th Code Lyoko episode, William returns. William is materialized but still under X.A.N.A.'s control and kidnaps Aélita before virtualizing himself with her.
> 
> Fourth, X.A.N.A. having Jérémie's appearance in Sasuke's subconscious is a reference to the 24th Code Lyoko episode "Ghost Channel", the only episode where X.A.N.A. appeared in person... As a fake Jérémie. Plenty of people are trying to imagine what X.A.N.A. looks like as a human (as seen in plenty of fanfics and fanarts), but for me I'm just going to stick with his one canon human appearance.
> 
> Have a nice day !


	3. II : Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X.A.N.A. prepares its next move, Sakura is still shocked by "Sasuke"'s brutality and Naruto is trying to understand what's going on.

X.A.N.A. had to adapt to its current situation.

On one part, Franz Hopper's creation had managed to survive by taking over a cursed seal. On another, X.A.N.A. was prisoner of a boy mentally strong enough to submit it to his will. That was both surprising and problematic.

Surprising because for the third time, X.A.N.A. was a prisoner. The body being organic instead of being a supercomputer, X.A.N.A. deduced that it couldn't just find some keys like back in Lyoko or steal codes like in the Cortex. It had to find another way to escape and possess a more subservient individual.

Problematic because X.A.N.A. had little to no experience with mental struggles. The only one who mentally fought against its control was Dunbar, who failed despite his best efforts.

Observing its current predicament, X.A.N.A. concluded that it needed to adapt to the situation. The first issue to deal with was the resources. It was the biggest one, as X.A.N.A. had little to no resources : no technology to take advantage of, and imprisoned inside a kid. It couldn't even try to scan the boy's memories : if his love for his teammate allowed the boy to regain control of his body, his mental strength also prevented X.A.N.A. from accessing his memories. That would be a problem, as X.A.N.A. needed to mimic the Uchiha's personality to mend in society.

The second issue was the boy's teammates. X.A.N.A. learned when fighting the Lyoko-warriors how valuable their friendship was. Any immediate attempt to mimic the boy's personality with little information could quickly lead to suspicions.

The best thing to do, X.A.N.A. concluded, was to observe the boy, his personality and mannerisms, and upon gaining the chance to possess him, imitate his behavior.

To say Sakura Haruno was worried and traumatized was an understatement. Beneath the smile she gave to Sasuke, nothing but worry filled her mind.

She remembered how he killed the Oto ninjas. As she remembered the charred, black faces, her own turned green. The chillingly calm, polite tone Sasuke had adopted only highlighted the sheer brutality of his deeds. What was stranger, was that Sasuke didn't remember a thing.

She had heard of a few possessions stories, but they had reasons that couldn't explain what happened to Sasuke. True, Dan Kato was able to possess someone else's body, but Kato was long dead since. It couldn't be Ino, who not only was just as horrified as her, but was already exhausted after possessing the Oto girl. She was aware of the stories surrounding the Jinchuurikis, human sacrifices hosting the Tailed Beasts. However, whatever was possessing Sasuke had a behavior unlike any Tailed Beast, and thus it couldn't count. And it seemed have it's own plans, and it wasn't looking good. Not for her. Not for Sasuke. Not for Naruto.

« Yeah. Just, no one else. Not even Naruto. »

« Sorry Sasuke. I'll have to renege on our promise. » The Haruno whispered to herself.

An unexpected voice interrupted her.

« What are you talking about, Sakura ? »

Sakura turned toward Naruto, who just regained consciousness and looked at her, puzzled.

« It's nothing Naruto. » Sakura gave a reassuring, fake smile to her friend. « Nothing. »

Naruto still looked puzzled, but nodded.

« I'm grateful for what you did to protect me. From now on, I'll protect you guys. » Sakura thought, looking at her crush.

« Even if you don't want me to ».

There was a lot of things that confused the naive Naruto Uzumaki, who kept watch as his teammates slept in the depths of the Forest of Death.

The 12-year old kid had only a rudimentary understanding of the ninja world, was an overly-idealistic kid, and these views clashed with what he actually heard. Apparently, the bunch of Oto Ninjas who attacked them earlier got their asses whooped by Sasuke. That, in itself, wasn't a problem in the slightest. In fact, Naruto enjoyed « awesome » tales, and while considering the Uchiha as a rival, he asked Sakura what happened when he was unconscious, already wishing to pull off one day something just as awesome.

This leads us to the actual problem : Sakura's tale of Sasuke kicking butt was… Lacking. As if she didn't told him all the details about what happened. It didn't sounds like even a quick retelling. Just a small, unclear, statement. She'd have normally gushed about how awesome Sasuke was. Here… It wasn't the case.

Sasuke woke up, turning his back at Naruto for some reason. The tattoos on him didn't go unnoticed, however.

« **Keep an eye on Sakura. I need to deal with… Personal stuff.** »

His voice was raspy, low, for some reason. Naruto wondered why. Hoarse voice, perhaps? 

« Sasuke… Are you sick ?

— **No need to worry about me. I'll be back in a few minutes.** »

The Uzumaki nodded dumbly, puzzled.

The blonde reminded X.A.N.A. of Della Robbia and Dunbar. Same mind-boggling stupidity. If X.A.N.A. was human, it would have made a joke about blondes. Nevertheless, X.A.N.A. knew not to underestimate the enemy. The Uzumaki still looked suspicious. For all we know, he could try to investigate later. X.A.N.A. had to take him seriously. Not doing so with Della Robbia and Dunbar proved to be X.A.N.A.'s undoing.

X.A.N.A. remembered one particular team. Or, more accurately, one particular particular individual.

Said person was one of the few people looking fine when X.A.N.A. slaughtered the Oto ninjas. They could pose a problem, if X.A.N.A.'s understanding of the situation was of any indication. While berating the blonde, the pinkette mentioned that during that exams, even teams from the same village could try and screw each other over. While the people X.A.N.A. saw to this point were of no threat, given that they struggled against the Sound Duo, that one specific person looked like he could easily take on the Sound Duo. For all we know, he could come back as an enemy later. 

However, said person had similar metal plates and insignas to X.A.N.A.'s host and said host's teammates. X.A.N.A. didn't knew much about these leaf symbols, but it probably meant a belonging to a specific element. Thus, killing the target could be problematic in the long run. 

However, putting him out of commission… Wasn't an issue at all.

As Neji Hyuuga was about to find out to his dismay.

« Hey, Naruto, do you know how we got these scrolls ? » Sakura asked, as they woke up as early as they could, looking at the two aforementioned Heaven and Earth scrolls in front of them. Normally, they would be happy to have them, but here ? They came out of nowhere, and who knows ? It could be a trap. The best course of action would be to have a Naruto clone keep them, just in case it turned out to be a trap indeed.

The Uzumaki nodded, pouting : « Yeah, that jerk Sasuke went solo again and kicked ass all alone. He just told me it was about dealing with personal stuff. There goes the teamwork stuff… »

The Uchiha looked puzzled. He slept all night. : « _Usuratonkashi_ , are you sure you didn't fall asleep as well ? »

The blonde fiercely shook his head : « No ! I was awake all night ! You woke up, told me you were about to deal with personal stuff, kicked ass while leaving me behind, came back and then you fell face first on the ground ! » A small grin appeared on the Uzumaki as he told the last part.

The pink-haired girl's mood darkened as she listened to her teammates' bickering. Then, she spoke up : « Naruto, how was Sasuke when he woke up ?

– He had these black weird tattoos all over his face and he spoke like these evil emperors, as if trying to look cool. »

Sakura's eyes widened in horror.

« Guys, to the tower. Now. »

The longer they stayed around, the more the entity possessing Sasuke was going to needlessly hurt people.

X.A.N.A. watched the new developments. It seems the pink-haired girl knew of its presence inside Sasuke. She is likely going to ask for help. On one part, X.A.N.A. could learn more about this new world, and thus learn how to function in that new society. On another, there was chances she planned to reveal its presence inside the Uchiha. While she promised she wouldn't, X.A.N.A. deduced that she was likely not going to keep that promise.

Things weren't looking good.


	4. III : Bails sombres

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konoha realizes what's going on with Sasuke, X.A.N.A. faces a major stepback and Konoha's head nurse is a rather mysterious woman.

Might Gai, an all-around hyperactive individual was now an all-around worried individual.

His optimism, far from utterly shattered, was nonetheless significantly shaken by the recent, unfortunate events that happened to his student Neji Hyuuga. The latter, a dark-brown-haired, white-eyed 14-year old boy, was in a hospital, in a critical condition.

The teenager, now in intensive care unit, had been horribly attacked. His jaw was broken, his entire body suffered from 2nd and 3rd degree burns, his legs and arms were shattered, his brain was damaged and his spine was more broken than Gaara's sanity, if there was any to speak of. Whoever attacked him did not hold back.

« Do you… Have an idea of whoever did that, asked Gai, horrified by the unexpected turn of events for the young Hyuuga.

– As you know, the Forest of Death is full of cameras. We might identify whoever did that and why, replied a nurse, who was wondering whether she was indeed seeing a heavily injured teenager in intensive care unit or if she was seeing an autopsy in the morgue.

– Already done, interrupted one Anko Mitarashi, who's usual face of cheerfulness was replaced by a serious, neutral face hiding fear and apprehension. The Uchiha is responsible for Hyuuga's current situation. »

Every single face in the room turned white. Now, Sasuke was indeed a prodigy, and is the best of his generation. However, he had been previously bested by one of Neji's teammates, Rock Lee, who never won against Neji himself. While Sasuke is known for constantly training, he couldn't have improved his skills that much by merely training in a day. Which means his power boost was probably given by someone else.

Which leads to the next question : Who gave him such power ?

Naruto was a confused kid.

The blond could only watch and follow as Sasuke and especially Sakura raced to the tower as if their lives depended on it. There was no threat to speak of. No weird nigh-invulnerable snake sicko, no merely creepy purple-haired snake lady and no overconfident Ame genin. So, what was the issue ? Sasuke trying to be like these bad guys he saw in movies ? Who could take him seriously ? These tattoos were ugly as shit and his deep evil emperor-wannabe voice sounded like a poor man's Hiruzen. And Sasuke, as cowardly and stupid as he was, was still on their side. So… Why ?

« Sakura, Sasuke… What's going on ? Why are we running like crazy like that ?

– We'll talk about it later, Naruto, just run ! » Sakura's answer gave no room for debate, and Sasuke's thankful look to her didn't help either. All Naruto could do was to mumble about how he felt ignored as he did as asked.

« It's annoying, to be left in the dust like that… I wonder if it's any different from where I didn't knew I was the Nine Tails' Jinchuriki… »

Despite the « threat », the team managed to reach the tower without issue, leaving the blond disappointed by the lack of challenge.

« So… We just run away. Like cowards, lamented the blond. It's the snake sicko all over again, right ?

– Well, yeah. He totally crushed us last time and tried to come back for more. Either we choose to fight him and we die this time, or we flee and live to fight another day, partially lied Sakura. We can't always go into fights Naruto. A ninja must know where he's clearly overpowered so that he can flee or improvise. Next time, we'll be stronger, alright ? » The Uzumaki nodded, albeit reluctantly.

« When we'll be strong enough to kick his ass, it's going to mean that you're one step closer to being Hokage-level, got it ? » Sakura stated with a smile, hoping to take Naruto's mind off the situation and lighten the mood. A small, but determined smile indeed appeared on the Uzumaki's face, implicitly stating that Sakura succeeded in her objective.

« Besides, we have both scrolls. Let's just go to the tower and get it over with.» Sasuke stated. Said statement, however, proved that speaking of the devil could have its benefits, as they had only to deal with a couple meters before reaching it.

Naruto Uzumaki was still a naive boy that, despite his numerous qualities, was no stranger to confusion. Said confusion only rose in intensity when the blonde heard the following statements in the tower.

« Visual evidence and testimony from a trusted source has shown that Uchiha Sasuke dealt with events beyond his control that could affect him in the future if they aren't dealt with immediately. As a result, he'll be disqualified from the Chunin Exams. »

« What ? » Sasuke muttered in confusion and anger, while also trying to deduce who could've told the proctors what he did. That wasn't hard : Naruto had little knowledge of said events, but Sakura was awake during the whole ordeal.

Outwardly, Sasuke's face was neutral, emotionless, looking at Sakura as if she's no different from air. However, the boy's activated Sharingan showed the utter fury he felt towards Haruno, who, much to Naruto's surprise, glared back.

But while Sasuke's glare seemed to threaten Sakura with bodily harm for preventing him from fighting against strong opponents, Sakura's glare was more similar to an angry mom desperate to protect her kids, even if it meant hurting them.

And neither was going to back down on their position.

« You're dealing with something inside of you no one knows about, that could kill people whenever it wants, and you have no control over it whatsoever. This isn't a game. It could hurt you. It could hurt Naruto. I can't, no, I won't stand by ! » Sakura said, albeit her tears show she regretted hurting her crush. While briefly surprised by Sakura's willingness to stand in his way, Sakura's crush's anger only grew, leading him to attack Haruno.

Or, more accurately, to attempt to attack Haruno. The karate chop Kakashi gave him knocked him out as before he could reach the pink-haired girl.

« Don't worry about him », Kakashi reassured his remaining two students. « I'll take care of him » he added, before vanishing with the Uchiha.

The situation is critical, X.A.N.A. realized. 

The individual called Kakashi Hatake sealed the cursed seal on the Uchiha's neck, sealing the multi-agent program as well. As a result, it was no longer able to see through the Uchiha's eyes. Given that it was already unable to read Sasuke's mind, it meant the murderous AI was going to have issues imitating him anytime it managed to gain control. Escaping the boy was also no longer an option for now because the seal was too strong.  
That left X.A.N.A. with only one option : Use most of it's power to fight against the seal and try to have some control over the boy whenever he was asleep or unconscious. While X.A.N.A. would be as a result unable to use its abilities whenever an offensive is needed, it would at least be able to observe its surroundings, observe human behavior around the boy and act accordingly.

« **We shall put to test that theory now.** » 

Juno Hyuuga was a woman who believed she was used to stuff not happening as expected .

The 27-year old Branch member was a ridiculously short woman who had little to no interest in becoming a ninja.  
She'd have given up on her ninja career only weeks after her promotion to Chunin if it wasn't for the Third Ninja World War. It wasn't that she was bad. She just didn't care about the job, she found it boring.  
Every Hyuuga under the sun wanted a ninja career to try and live up to the clan's reputation. Juno was aiming for a higher, better way to use her Byakugan : saving lives. With the famed dojutsu and her knowledge in medicine and acupuncture, she quickly became the head nurse of the Konoha hospital. She was admired by several people, and few actually had a reason to dislike her, let alone hate her (with perhaps the exception of part of her own clan, who disapproved of her life choices). She enjoyed the admiration without actually being in danger, but she wasn't a people person. Hence why she left the Hyuuga compound long ago, instead settling in a dim lit apartment, and one of her neighbors included Naruto Uzumaki.  
She always enjoyed his company. He was troublesome and it was kinda hard sleeping when living next to him, but he was not so different from her, he was cute and she enjoyed gardening with him. Even though they haven't spoken to each other for years.  
However, she was currently focused on Naruto's teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, whom checking his room to make sure everything is fine. Staring intently at the unconscious Uchiha, she remained emotionless, unreadable. She was known for being a woman who was hard to read. 

It was seen through several patients' accounts of her behaviors. A rather shy patient described her as motherly, gentle, soft-spoken. Naruto himself claimed she was outspoken, hyperactive and enjoyed pranks. Finally, a co-worker said she was no-nonsense and professional.

However, one could see surprise upon her face when Sasuke woke up. She didn't expect him to wake up so soon, especially in the middle of the night. His eyes were half-closed as he looked around him, as if trying to hide them for some reason, leaving the nurse puzzled, unsure of how to react, since the Uchiha wasn't making any particularly abrupt move, merely groaning in a hoarse voice and looking around him.

Activating her Byakugan, Juno was surprised by something unusual happening inside the Uchiha's body. It wasn't hurt, but it had no chakra network, it looked more like a spectral entity, something beyond an human. Juno could describe it as some sort of electrical, humanoid abomination.

Juno was even more surprised when all electricity suddenly died down, and Sasuke's body returned to it's usual self. His black eyes, instead of being merely half-open, were now fully open, with no sign of damage done anywhere near his body.

« W-What happened ? » the Uchiha asked, confused.

**« Our experiment was a success. »**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FF.net author's note : cue me realizing how much I made you guys wait… Sorry guys. Again, I have no excuse but procrastination. That being said, here's the new chapter ! Hope you guys enjoyed it !
> 
> Juno's character, for those wondering, won't be that important to the overall plot, but she'll have her own, small arc.
> 
> That being said, allow me to answer to the first review :
> 
> thor94 : « since you make sakura better. Hope you plan giving naruto a brain and some bloodline and clan talents, and make him far less naive. »
> 
> First off, thanks for your review! I really appreciate it!
> 
> That being said, we've seen that Sakura became « better » due to even more traumatic experiences than canon. Zaku's arms being broken is a thing, Dosu and Zaku being fried alive is another. I'd like to keep Naruto close to his canon characterization (also, he didn't went through the same traumatic experiences, since he was unconscious and Sakura chose not to tell him). Plus, giving him a bloodline is a bit cliché. But events will make him mature and his abilities to improvise (already excellent as we all know. He's unpredictable for a reason) and his overall planning will improve, that I can guarantee. As for Sakura, as Jim Morales says, I'd rather not talk about it.
> 
> See you guys next time !


	5. IV : XANA's Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto has enough of being locked out of the loop, his mysterious past with Juno re-emerges, Sasuke is suspicious and Akatsuki caught wind of Orochimaru's plans against Konoha.

« How did you sneak in my room ? Asked a puzzled Sasuke, wondering how Naruto managed to find his room despite visits not being authorized.

– Well, officially I'm here because I've caught a cold, replied Naruto. They wouldn't let me see you, so I had to change tactics. » Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto, the dead last, managed to fool the nurse into thinking he was sick ? How did this happen ?

« Years ago, I had to do some research on diseases and their symptoms… To fake them so that I could skip class. » Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's explanation. He didn't knew whether he should be impressed by his ability to improvise or dumbfounded by the reasons that led him to even make a research on anything, let alone actually focusing on diseases.

« _Usuratonkachi_ … » Sasuke muttered, a small smirk on his lips, secretly glad Naruto was was here.

« Hey ! I'm visiting you and that's how you thank me ? » Pouted the blonde.

Naruto had a knack for brightening Sasuke's mood, or anyone's, for that matter. The Uzumaki's idiocy, while generally annoying, was at times unexpectedly welcomed by the Uchiha. Someone to brighten the mood, after so going through so much, was more than welcome.

« So… What's going on ? » There goes brightening the mood. Naruto looked worried, concerned. His face wanted answers.

« Just… a couple issues between me and Sakura. None of your busi-» « No. », the Uzumaki cut off.

– I'm not putting up with this anymore. I'm a member of Team 7. You're a member of Team 7. Sakura's a member of Team 7. Kakashi-sensei's a member of Team 7. So, tell me Sasuke. Why none of you guys aren't telling me anything ? » Naruto's tone was of the no-nonsense kind. For a second there, Sasuke could even see a leader for a short second. He had to choose carefully his next words.

« Listen, you don't want know.

– Perhaps I didn't want to, but I have to know. Both you and Sakura are my teammates. I'm not going to sit back and watch as your beef worsens. This is my duty as a teammate.

– Naruto, get out. » Sasuke tried to end the debate here and there. His friend, however, had none of it.

– Sasuke… I don't think you realize how much you guys mean to me. You know, I've always been alone, until I met Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and you, believe it. You're the closest thing I have to a family. I can't and I won't have my family destroy itself. I don't know much about family, but I don't think it's supposed to be that way. »

The Uchiha's stoic expression hid how he truly felt when he heard the Uzumaki's speech.

_« When your father is with me, all he talks about is you ! »_

For a split second, Sasuke could see his mother's peaceful smile on Naruto's face. The Uchiha hesitated. He didn't want Naruto to take sides. He didn't want to take the risk of Naruto siding against him. He already had to deal with Kakashi and Sakura taking him out of the exams, supposedly for his safety.

Truth is, they didn't trust him. They didn't trust him with his burden. They didn't even gave him a chance to try and control it. Any dream of fighting powerful ninjas to test his abilities ? Destroyed just because they saw him as a flight risk. They could've let him try. Stopped him in case whatever's struck in his body attacked. But no, they didn't even gave him that.

« Sasuke », The Uzumaki interrupted the Uchiha's thoughts, getting impatient.

« Well… It all started with Orochimaru… »

« You're off your meds again. », a orange-haired man stated in a monotonous tone, talking to a slightly younger man with spiky, raven hair. The latter, however, saw worry beneath his superior's cold, emotionless tone.

« Sorry, Leader ! », the younger man apologized, looking embarrassed.

« No need to apologize. Just take off the goggles and the forehead protector, Tobi. », Pain replied, sighting. « You're a valuable ally and you proved to be extremely helpful. But a self-destructive and forgetful man can only become a liability in the long run. Speaking of which, don't forget your appointment with your therapist in two hours.

— I won't, Leader, promised Tobi with a salute. His leader, however, made it clear he wasn't convinced.

— That's what you said the last three weeks before being late at the first session and skipping the next two sessions.

— Sorry, I was late, the raven-haired man tried to defend himself, his tone embarrassed. But, Leader, I was monitoring our ring-

— Not an excuse. Kisame can monitor them as well. That being said, anything to report on Orochimaru's ring ?

— Yeah… I forgot though. Don't worry, I wrote it down somewhere… » Tobi was desperately trying to find his report amongst dozens of them.

— … My point exactly.» Pain remarked, sighting. Looking at Tobi's pen and figuring out he just used it, he had no problem finding the report he was looking for. Reading it, Pain's eyes widened.

— Tobi… Excellent work. I'll summon the other members soon. Once you're done with your session. » As he put an emphasis on the last sentence, Pain stared deep into Tobi's soul, frightening the latter.

« Y-yes Leader ! » Tobi yelled as he put on his mask and ran off.

« This is a golden opportunity. If everything goes as planned, we'll kill two birds with one stone. That's a chance we can't afford to miss. » Pain thought, his purple eyes staring at the window. As he saw the night and the rain, the Akatsuki's leader was lost in his thoughts, thinking about the rings. Each Akatsuki member wore a ring. That ring allowed them to communicate between each other and seal the Tailed Beasts in the Gedo Mazo. What no one but Pain, Zetsu and Tobi knew was that the latter had the idea to implant live Zetsu cells in these rings. These cells were powered and maintained alive by siphoning a minor amount of the ring's bearer's chakra. These cells, being Hashirama's and thus based on his Sage Mode, could siphon chakra even from a distance, and thus even when the ring was removed from the user's hand, the cells were alive.

As a result, when Orochimaru defected from Akastuki, the latter could spy on the latter anytime they needed. All they needed was to monitor his ring, something Tobi did with utter and total success.

Now they know that…

« … Orochimaru created a village named Oto, has allied with Suna and plans to destroy Konoha. » Pain announced to Tobi and eight other multi-colored holograms.

« Isn't it illegal ? » Tobi asked in an innocent, overly surprised tone. A tall figure with round eyes reminiscent of a shark's guffawed. « Really ? I thought their law required an invasion ! » he replied in good-natured sarcasm. A small, blue-eyed figure giggled as well, her feminine tone standing out. Pain promptly raised his hand, his three underlings instantly shutting up. A tall, green-eyed figure glared at the small girl, who looked embarrassed and afraid.

« Then, what's our objective, Leader ? » a red-eyed, slender figure asked Pain. « Itachi, Kisame, you will go to Tanzaku Town and await further instructions there. » The red-eyed and the shark-like figures nodded. « Sasori, we will need your services as well. I believe you have a spy in Orochimaru's ranks, correct ? » A hunchback-like figure nodded, his calm hiding a strange eagerness. « Try to contact him as soon as possible. Bring Deidara with you as back-up just in case Orochimaru prepares a trap against you. » Pain ordered him. « All of you except Tobi and Kisame, dismissed. » The figures vanished, with the exception of Kisame's.

« Kisame, keep an eye on Itachi. Try to rein him in. » Akatsuki's leader requested. The shark-like hologram wordlessly expressed surprise at such an order, but nodded. « Dismissed. » Kisame vanished, leaving Pain and Tobi alone. The latter's mind was trying it's best to remember Pain's instructions, while also trying to figure out his plan. On paper, it sounded like an easy task, and I'd have been an easy task for anyone not called Tobi.

Forgetful, in itself, wasn't an issue. Or rather it wouldn't be an issue for a civilian. For a ninja, however, it could be crucial, critical. Being forgetful could change the whole life of a ninja. Forgetting about something, no matter how small it is, could jeopardize a whole mission. Things could unexpectedly change as a result. But Tobi wasn't forgetful.

No. Tobi was worse. Pain saw what lied beneath the man's childish, intelligent character. Pain saw an identity in shambles. Pain saw recurrent, unexpected bouts of amnesia. Pain saw both someone useful and someone in need. He can still remember how he met Tobi.

The man was a mere teenager, wandering in Ame for unclear reasons. Reasons Tobi didn't knew himself. The boy was in a white living suit of sorts, covered with a spiral pattern. The suit covered the boy's entire body, with the exception of his right eye. That living suit claimed to be Madara Uchiha, who offered to help Pain develop the full potential of his Rinnegan, and planned to join the Akastuki. Pain can still remember Yahiko's suspicion towards « Madara ». Yahiko was about to refuse said offer, only for the boy to unexpectedly interrupt him. In one naive, innocent sentence, whatever the living suit planned fell down like a house of cards.

« What are you talking about Guruguru ? We saw Madara die a couple days ago. »

No further words were spoken. While that suit lacked a face, Pain easily recognized the anger within him. As if a carefully planned strategy fell down in seconds. That « Guruguru », promptly tightened it's body around Tobi's in an attempt to kill him , possibly out of spite. Pain could still remember the boy's cries for help like it was yesterday. There was no need for another casualty of war. No one, especially this child, needed to die for such an innocent sentenced. Thus, Pain reacted instinctively. He put his hands on the suit, trying to forciblt remove it from the boy.

He didn't expect the suit's chakra to leave its owner and enter Pain's body. And thus, Tobi no longer was the one screaming. « Guruguru » was, as its body shriveled then broke down, before vanishing in a pile of dust, freeing the boy he'd later on call Tobi. There was plenty of things that surprised Pain, Yahiko and their friend Konan up to this point. « Guruguru » and Tobi's presence were amongst them. And thus the surprising became the unexpected : they couldn't be surprised anymore but there were still things they didn't saw coming.

Pain, Yahiko and Konan were peacemakers. The organization they founded, Akatsuki, was created for one purpose : that the new generations never goes through the suffering they had to endure : war. And while the peacemaker trio did expect to see a boy underneath the – now late – Guruguru, they didn't expect to see the – now supposedly – late Konoha war hero, Obito Uchiha.

He wasn't easy to recognize, at first. But putting two and two together wasn't an issue. While his long, spiky hair was indeed reminiscent of Madara's, it was easy to figure out where the wrinkle-like scars all over the right side of his face came from. The damaged, dark blue Konoha headband as well as the torn, damaged dark blue shirt and jacket with the right sleeve missing – apparently ripped off by the rocks – and the Uchiha crest were dead ringers for Obito Uchiha. 

« Huh… why did you kill him ? » the not-so-dead Uchiha asked.

While dumb and seemingly innocent, that sentence was the announcer of an even deeper problem, an even bigger picture.

One Pain still has to deal nowadays.

Best seen in the present day : « While I'm glad to hear you went to your session today, have you taken your meds ? »

Obito's embarrassed face was all the answer Pain needed.

Few things could surprise Sasuke Uchiha nowadays. An uncomfortable Naruto was one of them. Not the kind of uncomfortable in front of an embarrassing situation, which they grew used to with all those D-Rank missions. No, it was closer to disgust, much like Sasuke himself when he ate sweets.

Before Sasuke could talk about his Cursed Seal with the _usuratonkachi_ , they were interrupted by the head nurse. The Uchiha was used to go to the hospital. Overtraining reasons, they say. Not that the raven-haired boy cared about such a thing. He had to train hard to kill Itachi, to reach the required strength. But Sasuke was as a result used to see the head nurse. She was a strict,concerned, almost motherly woman with little sense of humour that was focused on doing her job.

At least, that's what he thought until he saw her interact with Naruto as she led him back to his room. In a second, she became almost as cheerful as Naruto himself. As they walked back to Naruto's room, Sasuke heard her talk about their mutual passions in gardening and gushing about Naruto's pranks. The conversation, if surprising, was innocuous, and Sasuke thought the Hyuuga nurse was a good friend of Naruto. Or rather, he thought so for a second, until he saw the obvious discomfort in Naruto's face. He wasn't comfortable around that woman, _at all_. Naruto looked like he'd rather be pummeled by Sakura, while that woman was all buddy-buddy with him. If anything, Sasuke expected the opposite. As he got off his bed, Sasuke felt weak, light-headed. He almost fell face first. Trembling, Itachi's brother followed the knucklehead and the nurse, the latter wrapping her arm around Naruto's shoulder, seemingly ignorant or unconcerned about the blonde's obvious discomfort. As they reached Naruto's room, Sasuke pretended to go to the elevator, not far from Naruto's room, overhearing his teammate and Juno who had just entered the room. The latter's friendly tone developed a taunting feeling to it as she talked about her « pranks » and how she planned to « prank » Naruto even more.

Naruto's teammate's suspicion turned into worry. He'll try to look into that as fast as possible, but for now, he needed to keep his cover and reached the elevator.

« Where do you think you're going Mr. Uchiha ? The head nurse asked as she got out of Naruto's room.

— Training, the Uchiha replied, hiding his worry beneath a straight face.

— You just woke up, you have trouble even walking and you are seriously expecting to do push-ups ? Go back to your room, now. » Juno's stern tone left no room for argument.

And that's exactly what Sasuke was expecting. She fell for it, hook, line and sinker. She didn't notice him eavesdropping. Stopping her ninja career must've dulled her skills.

As she brought him to his room, Sasuke felt his anger towards Kakashi and Sakura vanish. He had to understand what's going between Naruto and Juno.

ASAP.

« **Our test was successful. Indeed, we are still able to possess the Uchiha when he's asleep, albeit we're weakened.**

**Fortunately, the Uchiha went back asleep. Consequently, we possessed his body and woke up. Fortunately there was a map in what seemed to be a hospital room. A couple books were placed not far from the Uchiha's belongings.**

**As we read them, we focused our attention to that strange Earth's countries. All of them were monarchies ruled by a daimyo. Some of them had hidden villages, or more accurately ninja villages, taking jobs from various employers and getting paid as a consequence. Anyone else would've focused on these villages's skills, probably to use them for their own profit. These villages were indeed interesting, but we were more interested in the information itself than anyone in particular within that village. No, our attention focused on a land that actually lacked a hidden village, but had something else to make up for it. In that place, we would find the required technology and materials to start creating new supercomputers, new Replikas. Then, we will install the Return to the Past protocol in these Replikas, in order to become more powerful by using it, and then we will be able to build our army and take over the world.**

**The Land of Snow is our key to victory.** »

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FF.Net Author's Note : And that wraps up that chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. With that being said, barring X.A.N.A.'s involvement, you've noticed other changes compared to canon. You may wonder why so much changes and how they will impact the story as a whole. First off, just following canon until X.A.N.A. grows powerful enough to FUBAR's the shit out of everything would've been boring and unoriginal. Second, these changes in themselves may or may not affect the bigger picture, as the fanfic will still be follow a loose version of canon with several alterations. Finally, these changes allows me to focus on more minor characters. X.A.N.A. and Sasuke will still be the main characters, but others will still leave an impact. So, I'll leave here and in the following chapters a comprehensive list of the changes compared to canon.
> 
> — Obito is mentally ill (let's be real, getting crushed by rocks isn't going to be good for your brain) and his characterization is a mix between his child personality and his Tobi goofball personality. Elements from the canon, cunning Obito will still be there, that being said.
> 
> — Obito doesn't manipulates Pain. In the Akatsuki, Pain is clearly the one calling the shots.
> 
> — There's a mysterious new member of Akatsuki. They aren't an OC, albeit they're inspired by a minor character from the DC Animated Universe. Their objective is also to serve as a proper foil for their teammate Kakuzu. As such, Hidan hasn't joined the Akatsuki, but will still appear.
> 
> — The Akatsuki rings are also used to monitor their user's actions. Thus, Akatsuki is aware of Orochimaru's plan against Konoha from the get-go.
> 
> — An OC named Juno Hyuuga appears. Her seemingly close relationship with Naruto is mysterious.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo ! As you noticed, I chose to rewrite The Xanafied Fan. I had ideas, but I felt like I couldn't implement them properly in the original version. The past, present and future ideas didn't work as well as I expected.
> 
> As for my other stories… I'll tell you later whether or not I'll continue them. If I don't, I'm going to put them to adoption, but also leave a plot explaining what would have happened if I continued them.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I have no excuse. But I'll try to continue this one, promise !


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